There is a need for independent electronic converters in order to be able, for example, to operate halogen lamps with the conventional mains supply. Two types of converter are normally used for this purpose. These are, on the one hand, converters having terminals for the cabling on the supply side and lamp side which are spatially separated and situated opposite one another and, on the other hand, converters in which the terminals for the cabling on the supply side and lamp side are in a close spatial relationship and arranged next to one another. Owing to these different designs of the two types of converter, they also differ in the design of their housings. In the former case, the converter housing has two cover caps which each cover one terminal and are arranged at opposite ends of the housing. In the latter case, just one cover cap conceals both terminals, arranged close to one another spatially, at one end of the housing.
It is true that known converter housings with two cover caps on the one hand have sufficient space for mechanized and cost effective mounting of the electronic components and for easy mounting of the connecting cables with a diameter of up to 11 mm which are normally used in building installation. However, on the other hand because of their dimensions (length: 152 to 185 mm, width: 40 to 44 mm, height: 32 to 35 mm) and their elongated cuboid housing shape, it is impossible to insert these converter housings through, for example, ceiling cutouts of built-in luminaires. This holds, in particular, when the false ceiling is of low height, the spacing between the solid ceiling and the suspended ceiling normally being approximately 60 mm. The ceiling cutouts of the built-in luminaires normally have a diameter of approximately 55 mm.
Converter housings for converters with a terminal for the cabling on the supply side and lamp side can be designed to be shorter by approximately 40 mm by omitting one terminal while maintaining the same board area for the electronic components. In addition, it is possible to insert some of these known converters into low false ceilings. The types of converter housing mentioned in Table 1 may be mentioned here by way of example.
TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ Dimensions and other parameters of known converter housings (EREA Ereatronic 60/L, OMNITRONIX OMN60LT, nobile - 110 D, TRASFITALIA Mouse 105 DR) EREA OMNITRONIX nobile TRASFITALIA __________________________________________________________________________ Dimensions 127 .times. 41 .times. 36 123 .times. 36 .times. 28 123 .times. 36 .times. 25 122 .times. 38 .times. 28 mm! Insertable into no yes yes no false ceiling* Effective board area 26 27 26 27 cm.sup.2 ! Effective housing 89 67 60 70 volume cm.sup.3 ! Suitable for cables 6 6 6-7 6 with max .O slashed. mm! __________________________________________________________________________ *free height of the false ceiling: 60 mm; diameter of the ceiling cutout: 55 mm
The converter housings described in Table 1 in accordance with the prior art have various disadvantages, however. For one thing, the effective board areas and the effective housing volumes are very small. The electronic components therefore have to be mounted very closely next to one another or even above one another. It is therefore no longer possible to mount the components by machine. However, manual mounting of the components leads to a higher fault probability and higher mounting costs. In addition, the strain reliefs of the known housings are designed only for connecting cables with a diameter of up to a maximum of 7 mm. However, as already mentioned, the cables which are customary in building installation have an outside diameter of up to 11 mm. Because of the cuboid construction of these known converter housings, it is likewise impossible to retrofit them in false ceilings via the prepared ceiling cutouts of built-in luminaires.